Prenatal care definition

Prenatal care (also often referred to as pregnancy care in clinical practice) refers to a full-cycle care behavior involving the participation of medical staff, pregnant women and their families in order to protect the health of the mother and fetus, reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy events, and optimize birth outcomes from the confirmation of pregnancy to the onset of labor. The core covers three major modules: risk screening, health intervention, and pregnancy knowledge.

It sounds abstract. In fact, the first prenatal care material that most pregnant mothers come into contact with is the pink maternal health care manual handed to them by the nurse when they call the obstetrics department for the first time. Many people think that all prenatal care is normal after completing all prenatal checkups according to the time points in the booklet. Even if prenatal care is completed, in fact, it only covers the most basic part.

Ten years ago, the mainstream clinical understanding was actually biased towards this kind of "indicator-oriented" approach, which is what the older generation of obstetricians often said, "As long as the prenatal examination data is OK, there is no need to worry about it." The advantage of this approach is that it is highly efficient and can quickly screen out clear pathological problems such as ectopic pregnancy, gestational hypertension, and abnormal fetal development. In the early years, it did significantly reduce maternal and perinatal mortality. But in recent years, more and more obstetrics teams have begun to favor the idea of ​​"whole-person care". That is, in addition to physiological indicators, the pregnant mother's emotional state, diet and sleep quality, family support and even social adaptation are included in the scope of prenatal care assessment. After all, we have encountered too many pregnant mothers with normal indicators. Due to continued low mood during pregnancy, there are really many cases of premature birth and labor weakness.

Last month I treated a 32-year-old pregnant mother who had her second child. She strictly followed the old ideas when it came to her first child. Every prenatal check-up was fine. The elders at home kept asking her to eat more, saying, "The more you eat, the stronger the child will be." She said she wanted "scientific care" as soon as she was pregnant with her second child. In addition to customizing a sugar-control diet plan and a low-intensity exercise plan for her, we also talked about her family situation at every prenatal check-up. Knowing that she had to take care of the eldest child, she was very tired, so she specifically asked her husband to share more housework. Later, she only gained 21 pounds during the entire pregnancy. A while ago, she gave birth to a little girl weighing 6 pounds and 2 taels. Both mother and daughter are very healthy.

Of course, there are no completely unified standards in the industry regarding the boundaries of prenatal care. For example, traditional Chinese medicine obstetrics emphasizes avoiding cold foods, avoiding fatigue, and not having major mood swings during pregnancy. Many young pregnant mothers think this is "old feudalism", but in fact, for pregnant mothers with a history of habitual abortion, cervical insufficiency, and spleen and stomach deficiency, these suggestions can indeed reduce the risk of miscarriage.； There is also the "exquisite preparation for childbirth" that is now popular on the Internet. Everything from skin care products to diet must be replaced by "pregnant women only". Many clinicians think it is an IQ tax. However, there are indeed pregnant mothers who have gained emotional value from these preparations, which is more conducive to pregnancy. In fact, there is no absolute right or wrong. What suits you is the best.

I have been working in an obstetrics clinic for nearly 7 years, and I have seen too many pregnant mothers who turn prenatal care into a "coping task." Every time they have a prenatal check-up, they wait for the doctor to say "no problem," and stay up all night checking their mobile phones and eating and drinking. Prenatal care is never a unilateral order given by a doctor, nor is it a KPI that must be completed perfectly. It is more like the first cooperation between you and the little one in your belly: you remember to take half an hour every day to count fetal movements, and don’t force yourself to tell you when you feel uncomfortable. The doctor will help you screen out possible risks and solve them, and your family will help you to prevent you from being wronged. This is enough.

A few days ago, a mother who registered with us last year came back to deliver wedding eggs. She said that the happiest thing about her entire pregnancy was that we told her, "As long as she doesn't feel uncomfortable, it's okay to drink half a cup of iced milk tea occasionally." You see, to put it bluntly, isn’t the ultimate goal of good prenatal care to make the pregnant mother suffer less and the baby to be born healthy?